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The Weird Week in Review

Child Held for Ransom Over Pizza

Lisa Paardekooper of Darwin, Australia ordered a pizza to be delivered last Saturday, but refused to pay full price when the pizza arrived an hour late. She was on the phone with the pizza parlor trying to negotiate a discount when the pizza deliverer allegedly grabbed her four-year-old son as ransom.

Lisa Paardekooper claims the driver held Cain for 40 seconds, demanding cash. ''He said give me the pizza back or the money,'' she said. ''He stuck his hand through the gate and grabbed Cain around the wrist. I raised my fist to him ... when I raised my hand he let go of him.''

The deliverer was given the pizza and left. Paardekooper immediately called the police, who are investigating the incident.

Thief Caught On Film Stealing Camera

A man in Manchester, England climbed the wall at a shopping center and removed a Â£1,000 security camera. He apparently did not realize that the recorded images were not stored on the camera itself, but were sent to the security control room. The camera is gone, but police have footage of the theft. The video has been released to the public in hopes that someone will recognize the perpetrator, who is missing his front teeth.

Saddam's Military Planes Found Twenty Years Later

Iraq's missing Air Force jets have been traced to Serbia, where they are mostly in pieces. They have been cannibalized, parted out, or left to deteriorate over he past twenty years. In 1989, the planes were sent to Zagreb, Yugoslavia for maintenance. The planes were parted out and sent to Serbia in 1999, during the Croatian war for independence. Zagreb is now in Croatia. A delegation from Iraq will go to Belgrade to negotiate the return of the jets, but they are unlikely to help Iraq rebuild its air defenses. The Iraqi Air Force currently has no jets.

Celebrity Bird Attacks Police Officer

A 3-foot-tall macaw named Chip is in a bit of trouble over a traffic stop. The bird, who starred in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, attacked a policeman in the course of his duties in Dover, England. The officer arrested the unnamed owner of the bird on suspicion of driving while banned. As the officer was driving the car to the impound lot, the loose bird pecked at his arms and fingers the entire journey. Chip was not arrested, but is being held by the RSPCA until his owner is released.

Too Drunk to Fly

A 65-year-old amateur pilot was arrested for flying drunk after a rescue helicopter had to guide him to the airfield in Schoengleida, Germany. He had drunk wine and beer before taking off, and continued to drink while flying.

''Come on, I know you're down there,'' he radioed. ''Where the bloody hell have you hidden yourself?''

Control tower staff say he also sang a few songs, cracked a mother-in-law joke and told them to ''pull their fingers out as I've got a party to go to''.

The airfield personnel sent a rescue helicopter to lead the pilot to the runway. The unnamed man was able to land the Cessna, and "wobbled" to his car. Airfield authorities called police, who arrested the man on his way home. He tested four times over the legal limit for driving.

One Fast Cat

Sarah, a cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo, set a world record for the 100 meter dash Wednesday by covering the distance in 6.13 seconds. The event was held at Mast Farm, the zoo's cheetah breeding facility. The race is a remote contest between Sarah and Zaza, a cheetah at Cheetah Outreach in South Africa. Zaza is expected to run her race later this month. To compare, the human world record is 9.58 seconds, held by Usain Bolt.

Groom Fixes Teeth to Marry Dentist's Daughter

32-year-old Gordon Taylor proposed to 26-year-old Sarah Lewis and got an ultimatum. She would marry him if he got his teeth fixed! Lewis' father is a dentist, and her mother works with him. Both her parents were horrified to see the state of Taylor's teeth when he began to date their daughter. But Taylor agreed to the procedures. He wore snap-on prosthetic teeth for the wedding on the Isle of Wight, and will undergo fillings, straightening, and bleaching next.

Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)